In a Pittsburgh police press conference conducted on February 23, it was announced that any calls placed to 911 between the hours of 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. that are not deemed “in-progress” will be redirected to an automated system.

The changes were attributed to the department’s substantial decrease in staff. According to the police data initiative website last updated in 2023, 872 officers are currently employed in the city of Pittsburgh. 

More recently, Point Park Police Lieutenant Matthew Mays stated that the city currently has 740 officers out of their targeted 900. 

The Pittsburgh Police changes will not affect Point Park police as they are funded independently from the city.

Chief of Police Larry Scirotto spoke about the changes at the conference.

“Following thorough audits of how police resources were being allocated, these improvements are backed by data to ensure that the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police is serving the city in the most efficient and responsible manner,” Scirotto said.

Maggie Papas, a freshman marketing and sales major, offered her opinion about the changes. 

“I think in any given situation where you are calling the police, it’s an emergency,” Papas said. “That’s what it’s for. Otherwise, you would call the non-emergency hotline that they have.”

All calls that are not considered in progress will be intercepted by the Telephone Reporting Unit (TRU). All calls made to TRU will be reviewed the following morning by staff.

Posted on the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Facebook account, in-progress calls are defined as a “call where a suspect may be on scene, any crime where a person may need medical aid, any domestic dispute, calls with evidence, or where the Mobile Crime Unit will be requested to process a scene.”

Calls placed to 911 between the hours of 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. for any reason not included in the description of “in-progress” will not receive an in-person response from officers according to an email to The Globe from the Pittsburgh police.

According to Pittsburgh police, between the hours of 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., there will be 12 fewer officers on duty than usual for all six of Pittsburgh’s zones. 

“Pittsburgh Police do, and will continue to, handle priority calls 24 hours a day,” the Pittsburgh police said in an email to The Globe.

In the Golden Triangle neighborhood, where Point Park University’s campus is located, 1,611 offenses were reported in 2023 according to data last updated in August 2023 collected from the Allegheny County website.

Kayla Bowman, a freshman animation major also responded to the changes. 

“I already feel unsafe Downtown, so that happening is ridiculous,” Bowman said.

On the other hand, Point Park police have altered their system to better support its students. Instead of two Point Park policemen walking campus at a time, there are now three according to Point Park Police Sergeant William Wagner.

Many hot spots for Point Park students are off campus, such as Point State Park, Liberty Ave and Market Square. University police do not have jurisdiction off of Point Park property and will have to notify Pittsburgh police to handle issues that take place in these locations. 

Despite this, Point Park police do patrol areas of high student traffic whether they are formally campus property or not. 

“If it were something serious, absolutely we’re coming and we’re going to detain until the city gets there,” Wagner said. “For us, anytime our students call and they have a problem, it’s an emergency. We’re going to respond like it’s a serious problem because if it’s a serious problem for them, it’s a serious problem for us.”

Point Park police are a private department, so they will not see changes similar to those that affect the Pittsburgh police.

“I think Point Park is going to survive this all no problem, our campus is going to remain safe, and we’re going to keep doing our job the way we have always done our job,” said Wagner.